People are hoping that Apple will release Iphone in Malaysian market. Here are the reasons why I think Iphone won’t be released here.

Malaysian market is too small

I know Malaysian are very quick in adopting new technology especially in handphone market. However, the numbers are quite small comparing to other eastern countries like Japan. And having to deal with Malaysia lock policy, I bet we won’t be on top of the list.

It’s illegal to lock any phone in Malaysia

Just like France and Germany, we have a law to prevent any phone to be locked to certain providers. Apple either has to release an unlocked version or not to release it at all. Considering that Apple is making much money by sharing revenue with telco providers, it’s a loss for them to release an unlocked version.

Suggested price for unlocked version would be around RM3600++

Apple released unlocked Iphone in France for 749 Euro and in Germany for 999 Euro to compensate for the revenue that Apple would get in subscribers payment. If we convert that amount into Malaysian Ringgit, it would be RM3600 to RM4790 per unit. It’s very expensive for a smartphone. Besides that, people are selling self-unlocked Iphone at RM2300 -RM2600. I don’t know about you but paying extra RM1000 for valid warranty and upgrade seems too much.

No 3G

I thought this would not be an important reason but after using Iphone for months, it feels like I would kill to have 3G. Browsing using Iphone would be so much fun if a website doesn’t need at least 30 seconds to load its page. After you have tried navigating

Self-unlocked Iphone is more fun

If you want peace of mind and stay with original firmware, you are losing big time. While there are bunches of web application which don’t require you to install anything in your Iphone, 3rd party applications offers many more functions to you. These are the lists of things that might seduce you to convert:

-MMS
-Camera with digital zoom and burst mode
-Games (tetris, snake, tower of hanoi)
-Access your computer at home
-Azan software
-Voice note
-Money tracking
-Last.fm client
-auto-lyric finder

This is just a tip of iceberg. There are a lot more applications that make original apps so mundane.

What is your prediction about it? Do you think Iphone will come to our shore?

Procrastinating is not bad, if you know how do it properly. Here is a list of three tips to procrastinate better.

1. Always limit your time studying or doing homework

As a procrastinator myself, my most productive time is the last hour of the dateline. But one thing about procrastinating is that the last hour makes you suffer, disoriented and full of tension. So my solution is to set my own goal and time it’s due. I tried to emulate the anxiety of the set time as much as I do with the real due time. This way I could also have the heavenly feeling of finishing a job just before its due time.

Besides, if I managed to complete the homework, I will give myself a gift such as a venti size of White Mocha Iced Latte from Starbuck. That’s to encourage my mind and feeling towards finishing any goal next time.

What happened if I can’t finish it on time? Usually I just skip to the next homework and work together with my friend when the real due date is coming.

Apply that to studying too.

2. Multitask is another form of procrastinating

Multitasking is today’s buzz word. Unlike computers, we only have one core and even with that, we don’t have full control of memorizing things. I found that multitasking actually requiring more time than it should be, especially when doing something new i.e studying. Our mind always make an excuse out of it to stop doing the real work. So don’t fall for its trick.

I save multitasking for something that I do routinely, like unlocking 5 Iphones at a time or folding clothes while talking to my mom on the phone.

3. Find something bigger to procrastinate

Have it ever happen to you that you find there is always something else to do beside doing your final paper? Suddenly, some lesser things like washing dishes or sweeping floor seems more interesting to do. Our brain try its best to avoid doing something important, even its has to do the task that you don’t like.

Harness the motivation behind this procrastination by doing something a little bit less important like doing your homework. Force yourself to decide between doing the final paper or this little homework. You win either way.

There you go. If you find these tips useful, use them as you please, if not, or you have anything in mind, the comment section is for yours to use. :p

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In the wake of ultra portable (and surprisingly interesting) Eee PC by Asus and ultra-affordable OLPC (one laptop per Child), Malaysian don’t take any chance to be left behind in producing our own invention. Mimos, a Malaysian-based company, released Makcik PC on 30th Nov 2007.

With a starting price of less than USD100, Makcik PC is aimed to reduce the gap between rural and urban society in Malaysia.

I don’t know which operating system it comes with but surely it’s not any sort from Microsoft.

With touchscreen as its main input device, it would be great if this PC have Iphone-like interface. You know, like multitouch and drag-to-scroll thinggy.

Let’s see some of its specs:

• Start from RM330 ($100USD)
• Voice-activated features
• Built in Flash memory (at least 2GB)
• Touch screen (no keyboard)

I congratulate Mimos for this initiative and let’s see how it goes. More pictures after jump
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Get it while it’s still fresh! Microsoft just bring its Live services out from beta. With that, they are also dropping a new domain for email. I just got myself an exquisite email address, irwan[at]live.com.

To get your own email address, click here and then click get a new live id. So if you would like to have a email address with common name like jason[at]live.com, act fast because it won’t be long before somebody take it.

update: apparently, they use regional @live.com.my for Malaysians, but you can always use proxy to bypass the region check.

update: beside using proxy, you can also copy this javascript when you are at login selection page :
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Since yesterday, Malaysian and US time will be differed by -13 hours. That means if it’s 6pm in malaysia, it’s 5am in the US.

P/S: Enjoying my early Maghrib 4.50pm. hehe

This is another reason why you should get an Iphone. Mobile Holy Quran is a native apps for Iphone and Ipod Touch. It was released yesterday. I’m surprised how much thought that the author has put into programming this apps. To start it, this neat software is available through Installer. So you just have to tap its name to install it. Interestingly, the author put it in Productivity folder.

Installation process takes no more than 10 seconds. After pressing the menu button, you will see a green icon and be greeted with donation button. Dismiss it and you are ready to use it.

To listen to let say Al-Fatihah, just click the name and it will download the data for the surah. Short surahs are just around 200-600 kb each while Al-Baqarah is about 45 MB. This include the voice and the translation. The program will let you choose which server to download, listing them by the order of speed. After you have downloaded one surah, you don’t have to do it ever again.

What’s more, the software include the translation in Bahasa Malaysia which can be easily selected by pressing ’Translation’ button. What’s more you could ask?

[zoosware.com]